Run, Girl (If You Can)

Jeremy knew that winning over Violet's brothers was half of the war. Especially after he got a rather foreboding chewing out from his boss earlier in the day.

He was a bit surprised she told him they were dating already but supposed it was a good thing. It meant she was serious about it. He got the feeling she was a very private person and wouldn't say such a thing if she wasn't serious.

Honestly, in all his years of working for Aaron the ice storm his boss was infamous for had never been directed at him before today. That man was frightening when he wanted to be. And yet he was a meek little sheep in front of his family…

Jeremy's curiosity about how Keeley Hale managed to tame him only intensified after that brutal interrogation. How on earth had she gotten past the ten layers of ice to even get to know him?

But that wasn't important right now. What was important was that he didn't screw things up with Violet. Aaron's final warning from earlier today still rang in his ears. If he hurt her, he was toast.

The sane, career-focused part of him wondered if it might be better to back away now before things got more serious than they already were. Jeremy may have bitten off more than he could chew and he didn't want to lose Aaron's trust after all the hard work he had put into proving himself.

But the emotional part of him that really liked Violet didn't want to let her go. He truly believed she would be the most sensible match for him out of all the women in the world. How could he let that gorgeous smile leave his life?

Jeremy was confident he could win her over. It only required a little strategizing. Violet may be the most interesting woman he had ever met but deep down, women were all the same. They wanted to be wooed.

Wooing her would be child's play. The holidays were coming up and it was considered a rather romantic time of year. All he had to do was take advantage of the natural ambiance of the season.

If he could manage to score himself an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner at her place and meet the rest of her family members that would be even better. Establishing himself as a part of her life would be vital to driving Noah Singleton out.

Once Kaleb and Nathan relaxed enough to stop interrogating him—truly, Hale men were too overprotective—Jeremy was able to sit back and watch them interact with their sister, which had been why he wanted to meet them in the first place.

It was obvious how much she cared for them. Her genuine smile had made an appearance more frequently tonight than all of the other times Jeremy had seen her combined.

He felt a sudden twinge of jealousy. That halfwit Noah probably got to see it all the time. No wonder he was in love with her. Anybody would be struck down by that smile. Jeremy certainly had been. And so had the indomitable Aaron Hale, if what he said about Violet having her mother's smile was true.

Violet was laughing at a story Nathan was telling about how inconsistent his class times were. He literally had to wake up at 2 AM to bake bread along with a class full of other zombified students.

Jeremy had to admit the situation itself wasn't that funny but the way Nathan told the story was. He found himself laughing right along with her.

He had been watching the Hale siblings trying to figure out their dynamic. Nathan was definitely the goofball of the group. Maybe that came from being the youngest. As an only child, he wouldn't know.

Violet clearly doted on him and Kaleb was very obviously jealous of it. These two had been going back and forth vying for her attention all night. So she was the most popular sibling…no wonder they were so overprotective.

Figuring Kaleb out was a little harder. He was loud and outgoing, like Nathan was, but there was something else lurking under the surface that Jeremy couldn't quite put his finger on.

Kaleb didn't seem like a total meathead despite being a professional athlete. Well, he had attended college. Violet told him that he got recruited by major league baseball right after graduation. Even so, he didn't display the same level of intelligence that his sister did when she spoke.

Jeremy was quite curious how Oliver fit into this dynamic. He was studying mechanical engineering but that was all he knew about the man.

Although at least twice since being here tonight Kaleb had referred to him as a 'nerd' so it was safe to assume he was more of the intellectual variety like his sister. This wasn't terribly surprising. They were Aaron Hale's children after all. His wife was no slouch either, having been making waves in the scientific community for years.

"I'm sorry for the interrogation earlier," Violet apologized on her brothers' behalf when they briefly left to go to the bathroom at the same time.

Jeremy smiled at her. "No need for that. Your brothers are funny."

Entertaining was a more accurate word but he figured that might have a negative connotation, as if he was laughing at them at their expense. He got the feeling she was as protective of them as they were of her. Insulting them by accident would not do.

A soft expression appeared on her face. "Yeah. They are. I wish you'd been able to meet Oliver though."

This might be his best chance to shamelessly invite himself over. Or at least to hint at it so she would do the work for him.

"You said he would be home over Thanksgiving weekend, right? Maybe you could introduce him to me once the festivities are over," Jeremy suggested.

"That could work! What are you doing for Thanksgiving, anyway?"

"Nothing," he admitted. "I only have Thanksgiving Day off so there isn't enough time to travel home."

While that was true, it wasn't the whole truth. Jeremy hadn't gone home to visit his parents during the holidays in years. He didn't see the point in enduring days of awkward silences in between arguments.

When his dad was even home, that is. A lot of the time he was out on deliveries and Jeremy was left alone with his mother. Which was even worse in a way.

Concern clouded Violet's expression. "You're going to be alone on Thanksgiving?"

He shrugged it off. "It's no big deal; I've been alone pretty much every year since graduating college."

Before then, people in his study groups who also weren't able to go home would host their own Thanksgiving dinners and he was usually invited. Jeremy wasn't one to turn down free food.

A slightly embarrassed look appeared on her face. "Um…would you like to join us? Nathan took over most of the cooking years ago and he's really good at it. We're pretty casual though so I would understand if you don't want to—"

"I would love to," Jeremy cut in.

Violet smiled in relief. "Great. I'll text you the details when it gets closer. My mom is always happy to have extra people over; we usually end up inviting at least a few friends."

Excellent. He would finally get the chance to appraise Keeley Hale in person. Maybe he could figure out the mystery behind his mentor's inconsistent personality.

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